The Big Snake
by Lovingh3art
Summary: Amidst the Parseltongue rumors and other crisis' during his second year at Hogwarts, Harry comes face-to-face with a surprisingly mythical creature. Loosely-connected one-shot.


**A/N: This idea came out of nowhere, but the context kind of fits in my opinion. It's a short, interesting one-shot I thought people should at least get to read. Hope you all like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or God of War, especially the small number of characters from both that appear in this story. They were created and are owned by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros, PlayStation, and Santa Monica Studios.**

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Harry walked up the staircase past the common room, darted into the boys' dormitory, and slammed the door hard behind him. His face was red and his nostrils were fuming. Today had not been great, and right now all he wanted to do was just forget about it.

But being the boy who lived, that seemed unlikely to happen.

The day had been another excruciatingly annoying one. In addition to listening to Lockhart's made-up lectures and Snape's sniveling cracks directed at him, Harry had to endure more attention from the other students. He'd made it clear plenty of times that he wasn't the Heir of Slytherin; he honestly never wanted to be part of the house in the first place! But like the rest of the wizarding world, his fellow classmates wouldn't take his word for it. In fact, he heard their gossip loud and clear from across the school grounds.

"Can he really talk to snakes?"

"I bet he's the heir. There was always something wrong about him."

"Maybe he's acting as a double agent for you-know-who!"

Ron and Hermione, as well as a few other friends from his house, had been there to dissuade his fears during classes, but it made no real difference to him. Once History of Magic finished up for the day, Harry elected to skip dinner and walked hurriedly through the hallways back to the common room. He passed a few disdainful skeptics along the way, but he didn't care at this point. Sleep was the one place he could go where nobody else could haunt him.

Harry took off his school clothes and laid them on the suitcase next to his bed. Checking that everything else was all right, he jumped onto his four-poster and sprawled himself over it. He wouldn't sleep under the covers tonight, he thought. Tonight, he was too tired. So he did that…and then fell into sleep.

Subconsciously, Harry thought that he'd drift into the familiar black and maybe have his fears imagined. Instead, he felt something burning right on him and sat up. The area around him was foggy and white, stretching on for miles and miles. Getting up, he squinted his eyes behind his glasses to see better. Nothing changed. Then he felt the ground shake and heard a loud rumble. He knelt down to keep from falling over as the rumbling continued, but his grip on the surface was becoming useless once it intensified, and he was afraid of what was going to happen next.

All of a sudden, the rumbling stopped and left the space undisturbed. Harry glanced about, unaware of any significant change until he saw the beginning of what was a large shadow forming over him. Fear climbing up his spine, the wizard-in-training turned – and let his jaw fall open.

A colossal shape that was actually a serpent towered over him, well around the height of Hogwarts itself. Its appearance warranted that it was mystic in some nature; its scales were blue and its face was cracked around its eyes and back down its spine. The two crimson eyes stared down at him like he was supper, with a mischievous smile on its lips backed up by wet hair under its neck. Harry honestly hadn't seen anything uglier than Voldemort at this point – and yet whatever kind of snake this was had just done claimed the title.

Nervous but impulsive, he walked towards the reptile a few steps before stopping. It was a giant, bloody snake. Logically, he should've been running away. Wouldn't it want to eat him?

His hand trembled. Sweat trickled down his temple as he and the beast just stared at each other. Those big, yellow eyes were just waiting for something to eat, and he wanted so much to get the hell away from it. Yet there was something in it…that attracted him?

A sudden shift in the ground told Harry of all he needed to know. The snake's entire body shifted and it let out a powerful bellow, sending air blasts throughout the land. Harry prepared himself for the gust of powerful wind. He tightened and clenched every muscle in his body. But nothing happened. Looking back up at the snake, he saw that it was still staring at him, yet more in a curious manner.

"…Er…hello?" he asked loudly, still shaken by the fear.

The massive serpent picked up on his greeting and moved closer, soon around fifty feet in the air above him. He could feel the body heat emanating from it. The snake's two eyes zeroed in on him, right before it opened its mouth to bellow again. This time, Harry didn't hear vibrations or bellows from it; instead, he heard an ancient hiss, reaching past his ears into the entire space.

 _The boy who lived. A pleasure to meet you._

It…it was speaking Parseltongue! Harry was more shocked than he wanted to be. He had so many questions, but those would have to wait. Mustering up the courage, he clicked his tongue to mimic what he'd unconsciously said before.

 _You know who I am?_

The snake murmured something. _Yes. Even from the nine realms, I know you._

Harry was taken aback. _The nine realms? Wha-nevermind. Why am I here? Why am I talking to you? Does this mean I'm-I'm Slytherin's heir?_

After taking account what he'd said, the serpent shook it's head a couple of times. _No. I cannot gleam how you are communing with me, but I can say that you are not related to Slytherin. Your strength lies elsewhere._

 _Oh. Well, thank goodness. I was really-_

 _But the World Serpent is not here for pleasantries, Harry Potter,_ the snake stated back. _Dark times are coming, and you should know that when everything is at its direst, your ability to talk to snakes like myself…will be a tool you can rely on._ It lifted its' head and gave a loud bellow once more, shaking the twelve-year-old with its range. Then it turned and began to slowly move away into the distance.

 _Wait…what do you mean? Wait!_ Harry garbled in snake tongue as he ran after it, trying to understand the dialogue better. By the time he'd broken into a mad dash, the serpent was long gone. Then he felt everything come to a freeze and fade into black.

* * *

He woke up in a cold sweat, air running down his face. He would've made louder noises had he not looked around. The rest of his dorm-mates were asleep in their beds, and from the looks of it, they would get very angry at him if he made a midnight fuss. Ron, in particular, was cozy inside his bed, a smile on his face indicating he was thinking of something funny. Harry decided not to push it and got under his covers. Yet the dream still lingered on in his mind.

How had this…this World Serpent heard of him? Was this another dream like the ones that had come true? It was all rather boggling and he didn't want to think on it…but something didn't want to leave him just yet. What the snake had said about him being able to speak Parseltongue…somehow, he got it by not being related to Salazar Slytherin. It'd confirmed his suspicions, but also added more. If he wasn't related to anybody in the Slytherin house, then how on earth could he commune with snakes?

He decided to wait until tomorrow and figure it out then. He'd also have to ask Hermione if she knew anything about this so-called World Serpent and the nine realms. Maybe it'd ring a bell. Convinced, he pushed the covers over himself and closed his eyes. _To better dreams,_ he thought before sleep sucked him in again.

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review, follow, and favorite if you prefer!**


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